British Army of the Rhine

HC Deb 23 January 1987 vol 108 cc822-3W

Mr. Dubs

asked the Secretary of State for Defence if he has any plans to strengthen the British Army of the Rhine.

Mr. Stanley

On present plans we intend to increase the size of BAOR to 56,000 by the end of the decade. Together with plans to transfer manpower from the support area to the front line, this will permit the formation of a twelfth in-theatre armoured regiment and a third air defence regiment equipped with the Starstreak missile; the remechanisation of 6 Airmobile Brigade; the introduction of the Phoenix remotely piloted vehicle; and an increase in armoured engineer support to battlegroups.

In addition to the introduction of Starstreak and Phoenix we also plan to strengthen BAOR through the provision of additional Challenger tanks, the Warrior mechanised infantry combat vehicle, the multiple launch rocket system, and the Rapier 2000 air defence missile.